Witness: Cousin had vanished from dance class

CORPUS CHRISTI - A 23-year-old woman testified Friday that at times she wondered why her male cousin had left the room when they took a dance class together as children with a Corpus Christi dance instructor on trial for sexual assault of a child.

Ricardo Villa, the 66-year-old owner of Ballet Nacional Dance Center, is on trial on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child who was under 14 in 1994.

In testimony Friday, the cousin of the man accusing Villa of sexual wrongdoing said he was the only boy in the dance class.

She and her cousin were both raised in Robstown and her parents often took them both to the dance class.

"That's how I knew he was in class" to begin with, the woman said.

She recalled an incident in which she wondered what happened to her cousin as others gathered around her in a circle to congratulate her on an award for good attendance and performance.

"I looked around and all I saw was girls," the woman said. "Everyone was clapping for me, but not him. He wasn't there."

Prosecutor Sandra Eastwood said in opening arguments on Wednesday that the state planned to present evidence to show Villa took the male student out of class to molest him, possibly in the restroom.

Defense attorney Ken Botary asked the 23-year-old woman if it seemed possible that Villa could molest her cousin, forcing him to commit oral sex as described earlier in the trial, while parents were waiting for their children to get out of class.

"Didn't those parents use the restroom?" Botary asked. "Mr. Villa would have to take a chance taking him to the bathroom to have oral sex, wouldn't he?"

The woman said she didn't see who took her cousin from class, but when she learned of the accusation against Villa involving her cousin, she wondered if he was being molested when he was pulled out of class.

In other testimony Friday, a psychologist who worked with the male student when he attended Texas State University in San Marcos said the student was having recurring nightmares and could not sleep. The psychologist had diagnosed him with post-truamatic stress disorder related to sexual molestation.

Two other trials involving accusations of sexual assault of a child by Villa ended with deadlocked juries.

Testimony, possibly including by the victim, is expected to continue Monday in the 319th District Court.